1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape pack appearance control apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus that improves the appearance of a tape pack by controlling the reel-up of a tape. Here, the form taken by the tape after it is wound onto the tape reel is called the tape pack.
2. Description of Relevant Art
Conventionally, the winding control technique, which is a technique to be performed in order to prevent the occurrence of the distortion of the shape of the tape pack when a tape is wound onto a tape reel, has been known.
FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of a tape reel, in which the tape T is being wound onto the reel hub 51 by using a conventional reel-up manner of a tape T.
As shown in FIG. 5, a tissue 10 is positioned between the flanges 52 and 53 of the tape reel 50.
In this tape reel 50, the meandering of the tape T is controlled by flanges 52 and 53 and the tissue 10 that prevent the excessive slip in the width directions of the tape T.
To be more precise, as shown in FIG. 5, when the slip of the tape T occurs, the inner surface 53a of the flange 53 comes in contact with the tape edge E1 of the tape T and controls the position of the tape edge E1 of the tape T, and the tissue 10 comes in contact with the tape edge E2 in the flange 52 side of the tape T and controls the position of the tape edge E2 of the tape T. Thereby, the excessive slip in the width directions of the tape T is controlled.
In this tape reel 50, the inner surface 52a is not in parallel to the outer surface 52b, and the inner surface 53a is not in parallel to the outer surface 53b. That is, the inner surface 52a and the inner surface 53a are inclining with respect to the outer surface 52b and the outer surface 53b, respectively. In other words, the distance between an inner surface 52a and the inner surface 53a becomes wider toward the circumference of the tape reel 50.
In this tape reel 50, the inner surface 52a and the inner surface 53a are slanting with respect to the outer surface 52b and the outer surface 53b, respectively. Thus, the smooth guide of the tape T into the region between the flanges 52 and 53 can be achieved when performing the reel-up of the tape T.
Additionally, the smooth draw-out of the tape T from the tape reel 50 can be achieved. Thereby, the reel-up and draw-out of the tape T are stably performed.
As described above, the smooth travel of the tape T is allowed by controlling the slip in the width directions of the tape T by using the tissue 10 and the flange 53. Thereby, since the positional accuracy of the tape T is improved, the superior recording and reproducing characteristics of the tape T can be brought out.
As an example of the conventional tape pack appearance control apparatus, the apparatus disclosed in Japanese unexamined Japanese patent publication JP2000-036180 can be cited. In this apparatus, almost all of the slip of the tape is controlled by providing a liner sheet.
In this conventional tape pack appearance control apparatus, since the distance between inner surfaces in the vicinity of the periphery of flange is larger than that in the vicinity of the reel hub, the occurrence of the distortion of the shape of the tape pack cannot be fully prevented.
Therefore, there have been requirements of an apparatus that improves the appearance of a tape pack being wound around a tape reel by controlling the reel-up of a tape.